


Control

by PapayaK



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-15 17:46:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2237904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PapayaK/pseuds/PapayaK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack is definitely not himself and it’s bad news for the team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

oO0Oo

Control – Chapter 1

oO0Oo

 

“Carter!” Jack’s voice was soft, pained, and desperate.

 

Carter turned from where she had been scrounging through Daniel’s pack for any medical supplies she may have missed. She needed more pressure bandages. She thought she had the bleeding stopped, at least for the time being, but he had lost a lot on their retreat as Teal’c had carried him to this apparently abandoned shack in the forest near the stargate. For once, the rest of them were uninjured.

 

They had been attacked as soon as they left the ‘gate by energy weapons and something like MP-5s. The Colonel had directed them to cover and was diving for a large rock himself when he was hit. One shot to the back. It wasn’t too close to his spine, but still she worried. She had to get the bleeding stopped. Get him back to Janet. Then she could think. Obviously this planet was on a level with their own, perhaps a bit more advanced. Just the type they needed in their fight against the Goa’uld. But right now, the Colonel needed her full attention.

 

She scrambled over to where he was lying on his side and bent low to hear him. “Sir?”

 

“Tie my hands.”

 

“Sir!?”

 

Jack struggled to speak. The words came out harsh, tight with pain. “Tie my hands and my feet, Carter. Now.” He filled his voice with all the command he could muster. How could he make her understand? He couldn’t get enough words out to explain. This was why soldiers follow orders without explanations. Carter had to follow his orders – she had to – otherwise...

 

“Tie ‘em! Tight! I can’t…” The pain was overwhelming. But it wasn’t the injury to his back. That was nothing compared with the pain of fighting to speak. He wished it was the wound – then he could fight it, control it. Instead, this controlled him.

 

Mind control. He’d had more than his share, for himself and his team, on Earth and out here. They say they can train you to fight it, but they can’t, not really, they never know what form it’s going to take.

 

Something had happened when he’d been hit. It hadn’t started right away, but gradually he could feel it; swimming through his body; trying to take control. It was like a presence growing in his mind, changing him, eclipsing the pain from his wound.

 

Suddenly every ‘damned distasteful thing’ he had ever done had flooded back into his mind from the crevices into which he had spent a lifetime shoving it; Flooded back in full color and 3-D – no glasses required.

 

The flood overwhelmed him and he lost himself. All he wanted to do was hurt Carter; Hurt her in the worst way – the most efficient way: not kill – hurt. Hurt all of them. Hurt his team – kill them all– Yes! That was it. Kill them; painfully, slowly, very slowly. He knew how. He was even good at it, very good – knew how to make it last.

 

He’d start with Carter; she was by far the closest to him – both in proximity and – well…otherwise.

 

She was also military; trained; she’d resist – fight him, and she too, was good at it. Currently, she was the biggest threat to his success. But he knew how to take her. Knew what she’d try…

 

NO! He had to fight it. Couldn’t act on the urges now filling his mind.

 

Intense, searing pain.

 

Every thought he had that contradicted his plan caused pain like he had never felt before. Never before had his own body tortured him.  

 

The flood continued. Daniel would be easy to slice up. He felt pleasure at the thought and choked on it; Fighting anew against the pain.

 

He’d take Teal’c by surprise when he returned. If he got the jump on him, Teal’c would be no problem. Images of several different ways to torture the Jaffa filled his red-hazed vision.

  

He couldn’t stop the visions. He began to welcome them only because he could still recognize how awful they were, how painful to his heart and soul, and they helped him fight the growing urges that were threatening to overpower him.

 

He opened his eyes to see Carter studying him and realized that less than seconds had passed. She was weighing her options, measuring his words.

 

“Follow my order! Please!” he whispered, fighting to speak; each word more painful than the last. He was glad to see her reach for cords with which to tie him, even if she did it slowly.

 

Just then Sam was momentarily distracted by the door opening behind her. She spun to face it, weapon raised, but it was Teal’c returning to the small shelter from his scouting of the perimeter.

 

He had someone with him, but that thought had barely registered when something large and hard slammed into her from behind, spinning her around and forcing her back against the wall, pinning her there with his hands around her throat.   It was Jack.

 

She could not breathe. What was he doing?! Her mind flew. This was what he was talking about. He _was_ fighting something and it _wasn’t_ her.

 

Little did she know that he was winning – for the moment, all he was doing was choking her. He would kill her, but it wasn’t painful, and she could easily stop him…

 

She hated to hurt him. She knew how gravely injured he was. He shouldn’t even be able to move.   But she was beginning to see spots. Vaguely she could hear Daniel shouting at Jack, trying to pry his arms away. Then her eyes locked with Jack’s. She saw the desperation there, the fear, horror even. “Stop me. Please.” He whispered painfully, begging her to hurt him, to fight him off.

 

Teal’c had none of her reservations, but came up behind Jack and punched him directly in the wound in his back. Jack froze for a moment, eyes that seemed now to beg forgiveness still locked with hers. Then his legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.

 

Daniel grabbed Sam and helped her sit on a low bench that was against the wall. Teal’c took Jack’s shoulders and dragged him across the room where he methodically began to tie his hands and feet.

 

“Thanks,” was all Jack managed to whisper to his friend before he passed out.

 

“Ohhh-kay, can someone explain to me what just happened? Did Jack just go crazy and try to kill Sam?” Daniel was offering her some water from his canteen.

 

“You are not far wrong, DanielJackson.” Teal’c spoke from where he was finishing the knots on Jack’s feet. He gestured at the young man who cringed next to the door, “This is Kell. He wishes to assist us.”

 

“I am sorry,” Kell stuttered, as he tentatively crossed the room towards them, “It is not his fault. The technology inside him is very powerful. I have seen men and women turn on their own children. It is truly a terrible thing. It is amazing he resisted as well as he did, from what Teal’c told me about your friend’s background -“

 

“Resisted?” Daniel’s interruption was incredulous, “That didn’t look like resisting to me!”

 

“Mind control.” Sam whispered roughly, nodding and rubbing at her throat “C’mon Daniel, if the Colonel had really wanted to kill me?”

 

Daniel shook his head, not wanting to believe his best friend had gone psycho, but said, reluctantly, “I know, you’d be dead.”

 

Kell continued, “From what Teal’c told me on the way here, I expected to find you both dead, if not dismembered. This technology was specifically designed to bring out the absolute worst in a highly trained soldier. I understand O’Neill is such a man?”

 

“Yeah,” Sam managed to croak as she moved over to check the Colonel’s bandages, “Highly trained – but he’s the best – not the worst.” She looked at Kell as if daring him to contradict her.

 

It was a dare he would not take.

 

Sam continued, “Tell me more about this technology. How do we stop it?” She continued to massage her throat; where the bruises were beginning to darken.

 

“I tried to stop it…” Kell said, “When he was hit, I shot him with my energy weapon. If the projectile is not too deep, a burst of raw energy is enough to disrupt the ‘controllers.’ Unfortunately, the projectile was fired from quite close range, and I only succeeded in injuring him further.” Kell’s discomfort was clearly evident.

 

Sam was only interested in information. “So let me see if I understand this: A ‘projectile’ is fired into the body, where it releases these ‘controllers’ into the bloodstream?”

 

Kell nodded, “Once released, they travel to the spinal column and then the brain where they access specific centers. They begin with the victim’s memory to determine targets. The controllers are programmed to find those in the victim’s memory who might be a threat. Those are the first targeted. Or lacking that, whoever is closest and dearest to the victim.”

 

Daniel whistled, “All of a sudden, I’m glad Jack doesn’t see me as much of a threat.”

 

Kell continued, “Secondly they search for any knowledge of violent acts or behaviors, and activate that knowledge. I am told they cause an overwhelming desire to act out the worst possible violence against the chosen target or targets.”

 

“What do you mean, worst possible?”

 

Kell looked at Daniel for a beat, “Imagine the most gruesome, painful way to kill that your friend may have knowledge of…”

 

Daniel cringed and hugged himself.

 

Kell continued, “They also affect the muscular and nervous systems, giving greater, almost super-human strength, ability and agility to carry out that violence. Finally, they are able to cause intense pain if the victim tries to resist.”

 

“But an electric charge will disrupt them?” Sam asked, gesturing towards her zat.

 

“An electric charge can deactivate them but only before they actually reach the nervous system. I am afraid it is already too late for your friend.”

 

Sam stared hard at Kell. “That’s unacceptable.”

 

“We cannot stay here much longer,” Teal’c spoke from his look-out near the door, “Our recent activity will have alerted the soldiers to our position”

 

“I still think we should try to talk to them.” Daniel insisted, “We never had a chance to explain who we were. If they understand that we’re peaceful travelers…”

 

“I don’t know, Daniel, they didn’t seem too interested in talking.” Sam looked at him doubtfully.

 

“It would be the quickest way to get Jack back through the stargate.” He argued.

 

“No!” Kell interrupted. “I cannot believe you are even considering this. My people are at war. They no longer believe there is anyone neutral. If you approach them they will kill you. Or worse, they’ll fire the projectiles into you and you will die killing each other. Come, we must go.” He implored them.

 

Kell headed towards the door, but paused when he saw Daniel and Teal’c move to carry the Colonel.   “You should leave him. Understand that he is no longer your friend, but an enemy who will do everything in his power to kill you.”

 

“We will not leave him behind.” Teal’c’s answer was final. He spoke for them all.


	2. Chapter 2

oO0Oo 

Control – Chapter 2

oO0Oo

 

Consciousness returned to Jack suddenly, like a light switch. He had the immediate sense that he was surrounded by enemies and tried to come up fighting, only to find his hands and feet bound. He struggled against the ropes.

 

“O’Neill!”

 

He felt pain in his back, but it was dull. Mostly he felt a righteous anger, these ‘enemies’ were terrible beings. They must be destroyed.

 

The feeling was familiar. He had been sent on enough missions against heinous beings that this seemed right to him. He must be on one of those missions now. These ‘people’ (he used the term loosely) must be guilty of terrible crimes against humanity. The U.S. wanted them stopped. They couldn’t hurt anyone ever again - if he did his job.

 

“O’Neill! MajorCarter has only just finished attending to your injury. You must be still.”

 

He must have screwed up and gotten tagged. He couldn’t get out of the ropes; Not yet, anyway. They had been expertly tied.

 

He stopped struggling and took stock of his surroundings. The group that held him captive was sheltered against some fallen trees. Four people sat. One guarded him while the other three sat nearby, alert, wary, hands on weapons. They kept watch on the surrounding forest. These, then, were his enemies. Enemies he must kill, or die trying.

 

One of them, the woman, saw he was awake and came and knelt in front of him. “Colonel? Can you hear me?”

 

He looked at her with hatred, but then, as if from far away, he felt something like recognition. There was something about this woman. She was special to him. And then suddenly he knew her. “Carter?”

 

Instantly his head filled with a pain so intense he tried to squirm away from it, to bury his head in the cool dirt. He nearly whimpered. And that tore at the hearts of his friends.

 

Carter cringed, tears in her eyes, as she watched him writhe for a moment, before hatred once again filled his eyes, and he lunged for her. Thanks to Teal’c’s knots, he didn’t get far.

 

Kell shook his head sadly. “It pains him to recognize you as anything other than an enemy.”

 

She reached out a hand to touch him, to soothe… Then thought better of it, and moved quietly away, back to where Daniel and Kell were seated.

 

After a pause, Daniel spoke, “Here’s a question – why are you helping us? Does anybody else wonder why he’s helping us?”

 

“Because I believe you are truly neutral and because I am ashamed.   I was the lead scientist who developed this technology.” Kell paused. “Please understand it was intended for peaceful purposes. These ‘controllers’ as they are now called, were designed simply to augment a persons abilities. Injected into a subject, they had the ability to teach that person new skills they could never learn otherwise. Imagine the poor and homeless, even the handicapped being given knowledge or abilities that would allow them to contribute meaningfully to society. It was even possible that the sick could be given something that could search out their illness and cure it?! Imagine! It was a wonderful breakthrough!”

 

“What happened?”

 

Kell’s animated voice became dull. “I was working with government funding. That gave them control and they took my invention and twisted it. They claimed it was saving lives because they only had to shoot a few of these into the enemy and they turned on each other.” He shook his head, “Battles are over very quickly… But war wages on.”

 

“Mmm we’ve had similar experiences on our world. Not every ‘wonderful technology’ gets used as it was intended.” Sam turned from watching the Colonel to face Kell, “You must find a way to neutralize this weapon. Tell me everything you can about your invention.”

 

As Kell and Sam began discussing technologies, Daniel moved over to where Teal’c was guarding Jack. “Is there anything we can do to stop this?”

 

“I believe the best thing we can do is keep O’Neill from hurting anyone. We must also cease attempts to have him recognize us as it causes him great pain.”

 

The two of them settled in to endure watching their friend suffer. They could see him alternately plan his escape and their deaths, and then he would recognize them and suffer greatly for it. As they watched, they could actually see the evil grow, and their friend slowly diminish.

 

Daniel, unable to stop himself, recognized one of Jack’s more lucid moments and tried to reach him. “Jack?”

 

For his efforts, Daniel was rewarded with one of the worst displays yet. Jack reached for him. Not out of recognition as Daniel hoped, but violently. He only missed by centimeters. If not for Teal’c’s intervention, Jack would have succeeded in causing Daniel great pain, and most probably, permanent disfigurement…

 

They were losing him.


	3. Chapter 3

oO0Oo

Control – Chapter 3

oO0Oo

 

His mission, as the controllers had designated it, was all he could think about. The need to escape from his bonds consumed him. Jack twisted his wrists continually, until they began to bleed. But he had escaped from expert knots before, so it did not surprise him when he felt a slight loosening. As soon as he was free he would escape.

 

He knew he couldn’t fight the Jaffa wounded as he was, coming up from the ground. But he was stronger than they thought. He could get away into the forest. From there he would use all he knew to hunt them.

 

There! He found a weakness – A moment more and the knots finally gave. His hands were free. He did not show his delight though. Instead he moaned and curled into a ball pretending to be in worse pain than he was.

 

Daniel could bear it no longer. Unable to sit idly by, even after his near miss, this was still his friend. He moved towards Jack. But when he reached him, Jack moved faster than he could see. He suddenly found himself flat on his back with Teal’c under him and Jack had already disappeared into the forest.

 

“DanielJackson, are you able to move?” Came the calm voice from beneath him. Teal’c, afraid that Jack had hurt Daniel, hesitated to merely throw him off.

 

“I THINK I’m okay.” Truth was, Daniel had been momentarily numb. Jack had hit him, somehow, in the neck and all he could now feel was pins and needles all over his body.

 

Teal’c gently dislodged him and sat up just as Sam returned. “Where’s the Colonel?" She demanded.

 

“Oh, he decided he had some errands to run – headed to the corner store.” Daniel gestured in the direction Jack had taken, and then grabbed at the arm he had moved as the pins and needles feeling flared.

 

Kell quickly crouched down, afraid. He scanned the surrounding trees fearfully, “What warrior skill does he possess? He will hunt us. He cannot help it.”

 

Teal’c raised an eyebrow, “Kell, where are your nearest forces located?”

 

It took a visible effort for Kell to swallow his fear and answer the lesser threat, “I believe they are at the stargate. And I am sure a smaller group tracks us now.”

 

Teal’c turned to Sam who was now in command. “There is a time honored ritual on Chulak. It one of the final steps in a young Jaffa’s training. Two young warriors are sent out into the woods to hunt each other. If you agree, I will pursue- and lead - O’Neill. You will remain here, to deal with the smaller force, as I lead him away.”

 

Sam nodded. She wanted to discuss the mission with Teal’c before sending him off to a life and death situation. But she realized he probably knew more than she did about how to handle this situation.

 

“Aaaand what if he finds you?” Daniel wanted to know.

 

“I am confident that Major Carter and Kell will come up with a solution before any violent action occurs. I will attempt to maintain a game of dog and rat until they are successful.”

 

“Cat and mouse, Teal’c, Cat and mouse.” But the Jaffa had already disappeared into the forest.

 

oO0Oo

 

The Jaffa was coming. His movements were virtually silent, but Jack knew exactly where he was. He would break his neck with his bare hands. No time for torture now – he had other victims to get to. He knew just where to hold, where to apply pressure, and he was well trained in defeating someone larger and stronger than himself.

 

But then the sounds stopped. He no longer knew where Teal’c was. (Oh yes, he knew the name – he must have been well briefed.) He began to move stealthily. Teal’c could move silently, well he could move silently too… The hunt was on.

 

Finally, he had the Jaffa in his sights. He had managed to mislead him. Teal’c believed he had gone to ground and was trying to lead him out. Unfortunately, he had, instead, climbed into a tree and had a knife aimed at the back of the neck.

 

But just as the Jaffa moved into position, he hesitated. Something wasn’t right. He couldn’t throw. Teal’c moved away and Jack almost fell from the tree as the pain of resisting overwhelmed him.

 

oO0Oo

 

“…But will a zat still incapacitate him?” Sam was asking Kell.

 

“Let me see your ‘zat’” Kell dismantled and examined it. “One for stun, two for kill?”

 

Sam nodded.

 

“Then” he paused, “It’s a qualified yes, with the controllers in his system you will need more power. Two for stun, three for kill.”

 

“Are you sure? He’s weak from loss of blood…We only want to knock him out.”

 

Daniel was intently watching the forest, “It’s been hours, where do you suppose they are?”

 

Sam looked up from the weapon, “I’d guess Teal’c’s keeping him busy. I’m just glad we were able to evade the soldiers. That gives us a little leeway.” She put her zat back together. “I guess we better signal Teal’c to lead him back, now that we have a plan.”

 

Daniel pulled a face, “a plan… yeah, we have a ‘plan’!” But he moved into the position Sam had indicated.

 

Sam activated her com, the soft click signaling Teal’c that they were ready for him.

 

Teal’c had resumed his path. He had lost him for a moment, but, at the base of a tree he found traces of blood.

 

Then Jack had become easy to track as his wound opened and he bled freely, although he seemed ignorant of the wound

 

Who was tracking whom had changed several times, as Teal’c designed.

 

Now Teal’c began leaving marks himself, slowly and carefully, just barely leading Jack back to the rest of the team. It had been a difficult two hours. He had worked hard at keeping Jack on _his_ trail and _not_ on the others. He had to let Jack get close enough to keep him interested, but not close enough to engage.

 

He did not wish to fight with his friend as deadly enemies. The minutes when he had lost him had caused more anxiety than the former first prime had felt in a long time. He knew Jack was in full warrior mode, every sense alert.

 

He hoped DanielJackson and MajorCarter knew what was coming towards them. Carter had some idea of who Jack really was, but Daniel would be unprepared. It would be a fine balance to maintain and Teal’c was not sure he could protect them.

 

Just before reaching the ‘camp’, Teal’c purposefully made a mistake and put himself directly in Jack’s line of sight.

 

Jack almost walked right into their ambush. He sensed it just before he was in Sam’s line of fire, pivoted around quickly, found and grabbed Daniel’s head, preparing to snap his neck. Sam zatted them just in time, which only served to make Daniel limp, dead weight in Jack’s arms, and Sam unable, with Daniel there, to Zat him a second time.

 

But then Jack dropped Daniel and reached for his knife. He had his arm drawn back to throw before Sam managed to zat him the second time.

 

Sam let out the breath she had been holding as Jack slumped on top of Daniel’s twitching form, dropping the knife. “Whew! That was close!”

 

“Indeed” Teal’c was more relieved than he let on as he went to carry Jack. “We must move. The small force Kell spoke of is now only a short distance away.”

 

Kell and Sam each threw one of Daniel’s arms over a shoulder and they silently retreated into the forest.


	4. Chapter 4

oO0Oo

Control – Chapter 4

oO0Oo

 

Teal’c stopped a short time later behind an outcropping of rocks. Here they were surrounded on three sides by rock walls. Teal’c set Jack against the rocks and set himself on watch. The trail they had left would be easy to follow, even though Daniel was now moving mostly under his own power. They had to rest for a moment, and he suspected O’Neill’s wound needed attention.

 

Daniel was moaning and holding his head as Sam and Kell helped him sit beside Jack, but he instinctively slid sideways away from Jack. “I’d not care to have Jack’s hands on my head… ever… again! That was…disconcerting…”

 

He paused his rant to look gratefully at Sam, “Thanks.”

 

Sam nodded at Daniel as Teal’c spoke from his lookout. “You must tend to O’Neill’s wound. It was bleeding quite freely in the forest.”

 

Sam cringed as she removed the blood soaked bandage from Jack’s back. “How is he still able to move?” She asked Kell.

 

Kell shrugged, “He doesn’t feel it. The controllers are doing exactly that. They will ‘control’ him to death.”

 

“We’ve got to get him to your lab, Kell, soon.”

 

“What are your intentions, MajorCarter?” Teal’c’s eyes never left the surrounding forest.

 

“Kell tells me the original projectile remains as a power source for the controllers. They have their own power, but it’s minimal. If I can remove the projectile, we may be able to deactivate the controllers completely. At the very least, they will have much less power.”

 

“Without the projectile as a power source, they will turn to the weaker electrical impulses produced by the victim’s nervous system.” Kell added.

 

“And those only stop when Jack’s dead…”

 

“It’s not going to come to that, Daniel.”

 

Sam had just finished applying a new bandage, when Teal’c stood and began firing into the forest. Projectiles and energy weapons flew around them as Sam threw herself against a rock next to Teal’c and returned fire. They were outnumbered.

 

“Kell! We’ve got to get to your lab! Now!”

 

Jack was vaguely aware of time passing. That part of him that kept all the secrets was finally waking up. Over time, Jack O’Neill had become an expert at boxing up his feelings and setting them to the side. It had helped him in many ways, not the least of which was keeping many, many secrets.

 

Now that part of him that was fully aware of what was going on, was awake, pissed off, and ready to fight.

 

The problem was; IT was not in control of his body at the moment. It was, however aware of the pain in his back and wrists. Someone was addressing that issue. He tried to recognize the face. Carter? Okay – that was non-verbal. He tried again, this time, some of his voice got through, “Carter?” came out as barely a breath. But she was gone by then and he felt the ‘box’ shrink to merely a speck, as the psycho warrior returned, saw the situation and decided to play dead.

 

It pissed him off, because he was _not_ in enemy hands, but that is, after all, exactly what he would have done.

 

oO0Oo

 

They were badly outnumbered.

 

This time it was Daniel who threw Jack over his shoulder and staggered after Kell into the woods as Teal’c and Sam laid down cover fire.

 

“It is not far now. My lab is right on the edge of the forest.”

 

Unfortunately, there was an empty field between the last of the trees and the door to Kell’s lab. Sam covered Daniel as they crossed the space as quickly as he could.

 

He now thanked Jack for those miles he had been forced to run with a 100 pound pack on his back, although he had moaned mightily at the time. He wondered, now, what Jack had known.

 

He was followed by Teal’c and Kell who was now also firing his weapon at the soldiers.

 

“They will know where we are. This door will not hold them for long.” Kell shouted as he entered the combination to open the door while projectiles and laser blasts bombarded the walls around him.

 

“We’ll see about that! Teal’c! Secure this entry!” commanded Sam confidently as they entered the relative safety of the building and she followed Daniel with his burden and Kell into the darkness of the lab.

 

As soon as they were in the lab the lights came on automatically as Kell swept several smaller machines and papers onto the floor to clear a table for Jack. Daniel laid him down on his stomach, and then leaned against the wall breathing hard. Sam immediately began removing the dressing on Jack’s wound. Kell quickly sterilized a long handled tongs and handed them to Sam. “This is what I use to grasp the projectiles when I run tests. It is the perfect size. I just hope it is long enough.

 

He handed her a bottle of alcohol. She paused to make sure he was unconscious before she poured it liberally into the wound.  She was surprised when Jack cried out at the sudden pain, almost as if he had, in fact, been awake. Whatever the case, he was now soundly unconscious.

 

Teal’c entered the room to report, “I have secured every entry point as well as possible, but we will not have much time.”

 

Sam paused, holding the tongs over Jack. She looked across his still form at Teal’c. He nodded at her with his eternally calm face, and she bent to insert the tongs into Jack’s wound.

 

Daniel had found a clean cloth which he was using to wipe Sam’s forehead as she spoke, “They sure didn’t teach us this in flight school! Janet’s gotta give me a little more involved training next time. I have no idea what I’m doing. Can’t see a thing… wait! I can feel it! Now if I can just…” She slowly removed the tongs from Jack’s wound. “There it is!” she cried triumphantly while holding a small metal oval up for all to see.

 

In one of those moments that take less than half a second she was transported.

 

She saw her CO’s face; his look of approval as she accomplished something that was by all beliefs, impossible. He always managed to look as if he had expected her to succeed all along. No one – in all her days of academia – had pushed her as hard as he, nor rewarded her as thoroughly – and all of it – with just a look in his eyes.

 

Time resumed.

 

Kell held out a small tray into which Sam dropped the bloody projectile. He ran it over to a machine, dropped it into a small compartment and pushed a button. “It is destroyed. Now you must zat him twice before the controllers lock onto their new power source.”

 

Daniel protested; “That’ll kill him!!”

 

Kell looked at Sam, who drew her zat and pointed it at Jack.

 

“You already shot him twice, Sam, are you sure?”

 

Sam’s voice sounded hopeless, “No.” And she fired. And fired again.


	5. Chapter 5

oO0Oo

 Control – Chapter 5

oO0Oo

 

Less than an hour later, Sam, Daniel, and Kell were in the lab with a still unconscious, but breathing, Jack. Sam was checking his pulse and bandages for the hundredth time. “When will we know if it worked?”  
  
Before Kell could answer, Teal’c returned from his rounds. “We are now surrounded. They are preparing a full attack on the main entrance. We have thirty minutes, at most. What is O’Neill’s condition?”

It was Kell who answered, “He lives. We will not know if we were successful in disrupting the controller’s hold on him until he wakes and either tries to kill us or not. I cannot convince Major Carter to restrain him.”

What they didn’t know, was that Jack had been awake for some time. He was biding his time until he could attack.

Using the element of surprise to his greatest advantage, he waited until their attention was focused on the Jaffa. Then he moved.

In one smooth motion he grabbed a pistol Carter had thought was out of his reach, cocking it as he rolled off the table and pointed it at her head, only inches away.

Everyone froze.

“Colonel?” Sam asked cautiously, watching his trigger finger closely.

It slackened by millimeters as he looked at her, studying her face. He fought to the surface, breaking past the ‘thing’ now controlling him.

“Carter?” He spoke softly, his voice barely a whisper.

As they watched he grimaced slightly as the now familiar pain grew once again and his finger tightened.

“Jack.” Sam’s voice was full of trust and confidence; her face calm.

“I’m… sorry.” was all he said, and Daniel’s eyes widened as he saw the trigger finger continue to tighten.

Sam’s eyes never left Jack’s. She poured all her love and forgiveness into her gaze, knowing full well what he would suffer should he kill her and live.

She watched him struggle – the only external evidence, a slight tightness around his eyes.

At the last instant, his hand jerked left and she actually felt the bullet whiz past her ear. In that same instant, Teal’c moved.

Although Jack didn’t realize it yet, without the projectile power source, he was not nearly as strong as he had been. He was, in fact, a normal, badly injured soldier.

Teal’c was easliy able to restrain him before he did any further damage. He pushed him down into a sitting position on the floor while Daniel found some electrical cord with which to bind his hands and feet.

Unfortunately the mind control chose this moment to reassert itself and Jack struggled weakly against his bindings. His weakness did not extend to his mental state however; he actually snarled at them as he fought to accomplish his mission.

“Colonel! Stand down!” shouted Sam sadly - tears in her eyes at this last turn of events. “Colonel!”

That voice.

He knew that voice.

This was wrong.

This wasn’t his mission.

What was his mission?

He had to fight the pain - think past it.

“Carter…?”

She knelt before him, took his face in her hands as Teal’c’s powerful arms kept his butt on the floor. ”Colonel!    Jack.   It’s me, Carter.”

Jack moaned and tried to turn his head away.

“Sam, don’t, it’s hurting him.”

He heard Daniel’s protest, but he already knew - This isn’t right.

He had to fight. And for some unknown reason, the psycho warrior didn’t seem as strong as before. He forced himself to look at her, recognize her.  
  
“No.” He spoke, his voice weak, “the pain helps… gotta fight it. I mean, you guys get annoying sometimes… but geez…” he gasped, “this is ridiculous… Couldn’t I just… “He paused for breath, “change enemies?”

Teal’c raised an eyebrow.

Sam cracked a small smile at Jack and shook her head. _How does he do that? He relies on me for all this technical knowledge, but when we’re out of options he always manages to come up with something…_

“Reprogram them?” Kell looked doubtful, “I never thought… Maybe if I… hmm.”

Kell and Sam moved to a computer and Sam bent over his shoulder as he began to type quickly.

Jack’s voice was weak – he rasped, “Daniel, talk to me… If I know you… I won’t try to hurt you.”

“Well, thanks for that, Jack. I’d prefer that to be honest. Not hurting is good. I like you not hurting me. You had us worried there for awhile- How’s your back?”

Jack didn’t answer, just tried to focus on Daniel’s face.

“It’s a pretty nasty wound, y’know. I mean, actually, you probably don’t know since those… ‘Controllers’ are working you pretty hard. But you should really quit playing soldier and relax. You can be a real pain you know. You’ve been causing us nothing but trouble since we got here! Even Teal’c is losing patience with you.” He glanced up at the Jaffa who maintained a firm hold on the Colonel’s shoulders.

“And you know how hard it is to crack that façade! He was even frowning – okay, well, he does that a lot, but… Remember when we…” Daniel rattled on, talking to Jack, trying to keep him connected…

Meanwhile, Kell and Sam were consulting, “I can write a new program, but how do we access them remotely to reprogram them?” Kell asked Sam.

“Surely you have some means of projecting information electronically-”

Kell nodded.

“Then we just need to reconfigure it to send the information you’re downloading…”

Jack’s eyes were sliding closed, as the pain and blood loss finally overcame him. He had lost more than enough to render him unconscious. And the pain should have knocked him out all on its own a long time ago. He clung to consciousness stubbornly…

“We’ve got it!” Sam cried triumphantly.

“I am initiating the beam now.” Kell flipped a switch.

Teal’c gently allowed Jack to lean back against the wall. His eyes opened and he stared, his head nodding slowly.

An electronic whine faded as Jack’s eyes slowly closed.

At the same moment an explosion rocked the building as the soldiers began their assault on the entrance.

“Carter!” Jack’s voice was deceptively strong as he struggled weakly to his feet, Teal’c assisted him discretely. “I need the power source!”

Now that he was no longer fighting himself, he found he understood what was going on, how he was being controlled.

“We destroyed it. Kell?”

“Major Carter, are you sure this is not a trick?” Kell asked as he moved toward a cabinet.

Sam locked eyes with Jack for a beat.

He made an impatient gesture.

Sam turned to Kell. “Bring a replacement power source.”

Kell handed another projectile tentatively to Jack and backed away.

Jack slipped the power source into his breast pocket and took a deep breath as he felt the strength flow back into his limbs. “Oooh yeah, that’s nice. I need one of these next time I pull an all-nighter. Better than caffeine!”

No one dared mention the all too obvious reason he was feeling weak in the first place. Janet would have to sort that one out on her own.

He began quickly choosing weapons from the pile, “Teal’c, you’re with me.” 

The Jaffa nodded.

“I’ll send Teal’c back to you, once the entrance is clear. Cover my six at 50 yards. I’ll head to the stargate.” He paused to consider Kell, “You comin’ with us?”

“I have no choice. I am a traitor to my people.”

“We’ll be glad to have you. The more the merrier!” Jack finished arming himself and moved out of the room; Teal’c following his example.

“Are we really going to let him do that?” Daniel looked at Sam like she was crazier than Jack.

When she only threw him a look he asked dryly, “Why?”

“One,” Sam was gathering up the rest of their weapons tossing some to Daniel and some to Kell, “As you well know, one of our main goals is to develop relations with planets _just_ like this one.”

The emphasis was not lost on him.

She continued, “If the Colonel does what he’s about to do as a direct result of their own weapons, we can come back someday and have a negotiating leg to stand on.”

“Pretty weak. Two?”

“I don’t think we could stop him if we wanted to, do you?”

Daniel rolled his eyes, “And three?”

Sam finished arming herself, cocked a gun, and looked at him, “Because he can.”


	6. Chapter 6

oO0Oo  
 **Control – Chapter** **6  
** oO0Oo

 

When Sam, Daniel and Kell left the building, there was no one there to stop them. But apparently there were a few soldiers who had heard the commotion and decided to see what was going on.  
  
The three of them fired behind them as well as they could as they made a run for the gate. They were soon met by Teal’c who covered them with his Staff weapon.

“Where’s the Colonel?” Sam shouted at him.

He only gestured in the direction of the Stargate. Sam increased her pace, leaving Daniel, Kell, and Teal’c behind, intending to assist her CO.

When she crested the rise she surveyed the scene before her.

No one was left alive.

At first she couldn’t even spot the Colonel. Then she noticed a splash of camo near the grey of the Stargate steps.

She ran.

When she reached him she saw two large burn marks, one on his shoulder the other on his thigh, evidence of energy weapons.

She reached for the artery in his neck. As she did so, she was rewarded with a groan.

“Colonel?”

She gently helped him to roll over. There was a third burn on his chest, but thankfully, no more projectiles.

The burns appeared to be painful, but not deep.

“Carter – thought you said these li’l buggers would keep me going.”

She shook her head. ‘No, Sir, we didn’t expect them to last as long as they did… after you were zatted… twice.”

He looked at her, “You?”

She sorta shrugged. “They’ve been dying ever since.”

He nodded slightly, “Report.”

“Teal’s and Daniel are headed this way – they had a little resistance…”

“Won’t be much.”

“No, Sir.” And, unable to resist any longer, “Where’s the power source, Sir?”

He coughed up blood and groaned some more. “Tossed it, Carter – Can’t take that back.”

“But Sir…”

“Carter, you care to think about what could happen? ‘Cause I don’t.”

Just then, Kell appeared, being assisted by Daniel and covered by Teal’c. Kell had a burn on his leg.

Jack responded immediately, “Dial it up, Teal’c.”

Teal’c, no longer under fire, moved to the DHD.

“Take Kell though. Get ‘im to Frasier.”

Daniel hesitated, but nodded; and followed through,

Teal’c entered the IDC and then followed Daniel and Kell.

Sam helped Jack to his feet and they made their way to the Stargate.

Just before they entered, Carter felt herself grabbed around the neck, a pistol in her ribs. Jack’s arm showed no weakness – in fact it felt like bands of steel. She had no time to react. They had entered the event horizon before she fully realized what had happened.

Can you think inside a wormhole?

Do you have time?

Carter knew she had to do something. She knew that the ‘thing’ that had forced her into the wormhole was not her friend and Commander. She knew now that the measures she and Kell had taken to save him had failed. They may have worked temporarily, or it may have been a ruse on his part. Either way he was now bent on destroying the SGC. And she was fairly certain he could do it.


	7. Chapter 7

oO0Oo  
 **Control – Chapter** **7  
** oO0Oo

 

Her first breath on rematerializing in the gate room was to shout a warning. She never got the chance though; Jack knew what she would do.

His first action on rematerializing was to move with the almost superhuman speed afforded him by the controllers. He brought his 9 mil to bear on the SFs in the gate room and drove his knife into her left lung to stop her from crying out.

He began firing. Each shot brought down an airman.

Carter was trying desperately to fight him, to nudge his arm, spoil his aim, but he was so strong and she was so weak, and getting weaker.

Suddenly her vision was filled with blue light. She felt the painful tingling of a zat blast and knew she absolutely _had_ to drop. A second shot was necessary to stop him, but it would kill her. She hoped desperately as her consciousness faded that whoever had shot her knew Jack had to be stopped at all costs. The SGC was more important than the two of them combined.

Daniel blanched. He had hoped the first zat blast would force Jack to drop Sam’s limp and bleeding form. Unfortunately, Jack had learned from the last time they tried it, and held her body tightly to him. He never stopped taking out SFs, who hesitated to return fire for fear of hitting Major Carter.

With her last bit of awareness, Sam twisted in his grasp and managed to look up into his eyes, which appeared to her to have taken on a maniacal darkness. She tried to shout, but it came out a whisper, “Please, Jack, fight it… fight...”

Darkness claimed her.

All this had seemed to take place in slow motion. But in reality, it took as long as it takes for General Hammond to stretch out a hand to the mike; “RETURN FIRE!” came the command. And Daniel realized he was out of time. He straightened his arm and fired the second shot. 

oO0Oo 

As Daniel’s finger tightened, so did the muscles around Jack’s eyes.

He had heard Sam’s plea.

It was monumentally difficult, but he forced the arm that held her to relax, even as he continued to fire on the SFs.

So it was that Carter only caught the very edges of Daniel’s second shot as she fell. Thankfully, he had aimed high, trying to hit Jack’s head.

Because of Daniel’s determination and the minute hesitation of the men and women in the gate room, Jack collapsed beside Sam just as the first shot was fired. It was Teal’c’s staff weapon. It hit the iris just where Jack’s head had been.

“CEASE FIRE!” General Hammond now commanded. “Medical Team to the Gate room.   Restrain Colonel O’Neill!

Teal’c was the first to reach him. He actually sat on O’Neill, pressing his knee into the wound on his chest. “Well done, DanielJackson.” He looked to where Daniel sagged against the side of the gate. “Had you hesitated, I would have been forced to kill O’Neill. I thank you.” He nodded to Daniel as he continued to remove weapons and hand them to a waiting airman.

“Thank **you** , Teal’c. I know you only fired to keep me from having to kill Sam.”

“Then we are both fortunate.”

Daniel nodded and moved out of the way as the medical personnel swarmed the gate room.

 


	8. Chapter 8

oO0Oo  
 **Control – Chapter** **8  
** oO0Oo

Samantha Carter opened her eyes and gazed at the infirmary ceiling. Her first thought was to wonder how she had managed to stay alive.

Slowly she ran through the events in the gate room; picking them apart one by one.

As she did, her amazement grew. She realized that Colonel O’Neill had somehow managed to use the controllers _against themselves_.

First he had found a way to turn his own destructive capabilities against the natives rather than his team, allowing them to escape the planet.

She now knew that they had never succeeded in weakening the controllers. They had only changed the _priority_ of his targets.

He had been fighting desperately against the nanite technology all along. Most likely causing himself intense pain in the process.

He must have known that as soon as the native threat was removed his wrath would be turned once again toward them. Therefore he had not tossed the power source as he said. Instead he had actually managed to get himself into the one place where he _could_ be stopped; the SGC.

The controllers had wanted him to destroy the mountain, but he had fought against that in order to try and destroy them.

The fact that he had stabbed her showed that he had been losing his fight, weakened as he was by blood loss and further injury.

But she was still there. He had not lost it completely. He could easily have killed her at any time. In fact, he could simply have held her as Daniel fired. That would have killed her and hurt Daniel terribly.

Her thoughts now turned to the SFs and again she was amazed. She thought of each one as they went down. Every single shot hit its target squarely in the chest. The Colonel was well aware of the bullet proof vests the SFs wore. In this way he could give in to the intense desire to shoot them without actually causing them more than a bad bruise. He could just as easily have hit each one in the more vulnerable neck or head. Instead he hit them precisely where they were most protected.

The only question that remained was; where was he now?

oO0Oo

She paused in her musings because she heard someone approach. It was Daniel.

“Hey.” He spoke softly, “Glad to see you’re awake.”

She smiled at him gently, “Where’s the Colonel?”

“Yeah.” He nodded unhappily without looking into her eyes, and took a deep breath. “He is currently under restraints and being given all the life support Janet can keep in him. He keeps trying to pull everything out.”

She frowned to herself at the news.  “How long?”

“You’ve been out for almost 24 hours. I was afraid we’d lost you when Jack…” he cleared his throat, “Apparently, Jack really knew what he was doing. A couple millimeters to the right or left and Janet says you would have bled out, or collapsed a lung or... As it is, you had emergency surgery and now you’re recovering.”

She nodded to herself and then met his eyes, “How did you know?”

He worked his eyebrows for a moment, not wanting to appear as some kind of hero. “It just didn’t fit. All the things Jack was clearly capable of in the forest… He always stopped just short of what he could have done; should have done if the nanites were truly in control. There had to be such a fine balance he was trying to maintain. I just wasn’t sure which way it would go when he returned to the SGC.”

She started to get up.

“Hey! Janet says you’re not ready to do that yet!”

“I have to. Kell and I have to find a way to stop this once and for all.”

“That will have to wait.” Janet spoke with her usual authority as she strode into the room. “I just finished fixing you up. I won’t have you…”

“Janet,” Sam interrupted, “You know I have to.”

Janet glared at her for a beat. “You’ll do it in a wheelchair, and you get back into bed if I say so. Deal?”

Sam nodded and smiled at her friend thankfully, “Where’s Kell?” she asked Daniel.

“Teal’c’s with him. They should be here soon. I’ll go see what’s keeping them.”

oO0Oo

A nurse pushed Sam to the Colonel’s bedside. It hurt her deeply to see him restrained as he was. She knew he hated any kind of confinement and because of his increased strength they had been forced to use the heavy leather neck and body restraints. And still he fought against them, mainly trying to remove any oxygen or IVs, or bandages he could reach.

Daniel walked up behind her with Kell and Teal’c, “Why does he do that?”

Sam responded sadly, “He’s doing what he always does. He’s trying to eliminate the threat to the SGC”

There was a pause as it sunk in. “By killing himself?”

“O’Neill now believes it is the only way.” Teal’c confirmed.

“Because we failed him on the planet.” Her determination and her strength grew. “We have to give him another choice. Janet? We have to sedate him.”

“He’s already received more than the safe limit.”

Sam looked at her. “And being zatted twice was the only thing that slowed him down. We double the normal amount and increase it slowly from there. We have to be able to talk to him.”

Janet nodded reluctantly and requested the necessary meds from a waiting nurse.

As they watched, they could see the Colonel slowly begin to calm. When he was finally still, Carter reached out and took his hand. “Colonel?” She called softly.

He opened bleary eyes. He looked absolutely exhausted, “I’m sorry.”

“I know. We’re okay. Everyone is okay.” She reassured him. “Is it you, this time?”

“More or less. They’re always here… Never free… Can’t…”

“I know. We’re going to do something about that. We can stop this, Colonel. You’re just going to put up with the restraints for a little while longer.”

“Just end it. Hurts.”

“No.”

After a pause he spoke again. His voice had dropped to a barely audible whisper, “Trust you…”

She nodded, tears filling her eyes, and squeezed his hand, “Can you tell us anything about how they’re controlling you?”

For a moment she thought he had lost consciousness, but for her, he tried, “Take who… what I am – and twist it. I wanted to protect… they told me I was – by killing you… and the airmen.”

“They’re fine – you hit their vests.”

He nodded faintly, “Tried. So hard – not to kill – to ignore Dan’l…” His gaze flicked up to Daniel’s face, “Nice.”

Carter looked at Kell. She knew this was probably their only chance to communicate with him with any clarity. What else could they ask?

After a moment’s thought, Kell spoke up, “Colonel, what is your main objective?” He spoke with some authority in his voice.

“Destroy SGC”

“Why?”

“Must destroy.”

“Why?”

“Evil. Must destroy.”

“Why?”

“Hate. Evil. Destroy.”

“Kell?” The Colonel was clearly becoming agitated again; Carter didn’t understand the current line of questioning.

Kell nodded to her and to himself and backed away.

Sam looked up at Janet who had moved forward with some alarm. She adjusted his medication again and he slowly stilled.

Sam still held his hand. As he lost consciousness, he turned his head and his gaze dropped to hers, there was pleading in his eyes.

“No, Colonel. We will find a way to stop this.” She held on – unwilling to break the contact.

His eyes still looked to her until they finally slid closed.

“I’ve increased the amount of sedative again.” Janet shook her head. “It’s enough to kill an elephant. We’ll monitor him closely. This seems to be the only way he can rest.”

Sam nodded to her and spoke to Kell. “We need to find an answer, fast. Daniel, take me to my lab, please.”

TBC...


	9. Chapter 9

oO0Oo  
 **Control – Chapter** **9  
** oO0Oo

 

The next twenty-four hours were spent pouring over computer screens. Daniel and Teal’c waited. They fetched food and coffee. Sam and Kell poured over all the info they had; MRIs, CAT scans, Janet’s reports, all of Kells research…

Finally there was a pause. Sam looked up at Kell, “So we go with this?”

Kell nodded.

Sam took a deep breath.

Daniel spoke, “What?”   “What!?”

Sam spoke, not quite meeting their eyes. “Here’s what we know for sure: Electrical current, in sufficient quantity will disrupt the controllers programming to the extent that they will shut down and slowly be eliminated by the normal processes of the body.”

She met their eyes for an instant, “This is a best case scenario.”

She continued, “We have tried delivering this type of electrical blast with no success.”

When Daniel raised his eyebrows she responded, “We tried to shut them down with double zat blasts and one shot from Janet’s defibrillator when his heart stopped.”

Daniel’s eyebrows rose higher. Even Teal’c raised one. They hadn’t known.

“She got it started, but it didn’t stop the controllers. Nothing we’ve tried has had any effect.” Again, she looked up at them, “I will not let him live like this.”

“What do you propose, MajorCarter?” Teal’c asked.

Now she engaged their gazes fully, “Brain surgery. We will call in the best neuro-surgeon we can find. He will drill three tiny holes in the Colonel’s skull. We will insert three probes and deliver a concentrated electrical charge to the portion of the brain we believe to be affected.”

“You believe…”

Sam nodded, “I suspected, and Kell confirmed with his line of questioning. – The Colonel’s responses… Trust me. We have it pinpointed.”

Daniel asked quietly, “What are the risks?”

Sam did not meet their gaze. Her voice sounded dead, “death,”

Teal’c inclined his head, being less squeamish about death than his friends, he spoke, “What is your time frame?”

“I only need to run it by General Hammond. The Surgeon will be here within twelve hours.”

oO0Oo

Twenty-four hours later

oO0Oo

Daniel was pacing, hugging himself. SG-1 was all present as was Kell, in the infirmary. They spoke in hushed voices.

“How will we know if it worked?”

“I hate to sound like a broken record, but… we’ll know when he wakes up and tried to kill us or not.”

“He fooled us before.”

“Twice.”

“Is it possible for O’Neill to represent the truth while under the nanite control?”

“No.”

“Then what shall we do?”

“C’mon, guys – won’t we know?”

“Sam. You have a knife wound that says otherwise.”

“I know. I know.”

Kell finally spoke up, “There is a way…”

All three of them focused on him, making him extremely uncomfortable.

“I didn’t want to say before. No one who knows the victim ever wants it. To my knowledge it’s never even been used…”

Sam woke from her surprise - why didn't he bring this up before?, “What is it?”

“A sort of self-destruct was built into the controllers from the beginning. We didn’t know then how well they would work. Maybe too well. We needed a way to stop them if we had to: The first test subjects…” (It’s Kell’s turn to stare at the floor, the walls, anything but the remaining members of SG-1) “If something went wrong and they turned violent, we had to be able to stop them. We put in a failsafe.”

Sam almost whispered, “How does it work?”

Kell, still not meeting anyone’s eyes, spoke, “The nanites explode.”

Sam’s face said it all, but Daniel didn’t understand, “They’re so tiny. What would that do, exactly?”

Kell slowly took a very deep breath and let it out, “We never intended it to play out this way.”

Sam simply walked away.  Now she understood why he hadn't mentioned it before.

Under Daniel and Teal’c’s intense glares he responded.  “The nanites - approximately 80 million of them explode. Now if there was just one – even a thousand of them, Colonel O’Neill would simply get a bad headache – maybe an extended bloody nose. Eighty Million nanites explode in your head and you die. Painfully. Gruesomely. Would you like me to continue?”

“I think we get the picture.”

Sam returned, bright eyed. She looked to her friends for a long moment and then spoke.

“We will allow him to wake and talk with him.”

No one mentions it may be their last chance.

“If we cannot determine the success or failure of our efforts, you will initiate failsafe procedures.”

Kell simply responded, “I will.”

oO0Oo

 

 

 

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

oO0Oo  
 **Control – Chapter** **10  
** oO0Oo

  

Jack O’Neill woke up; More or less on schedule, as was his wont. And with consciousness came relief. He woke up to pain, but it was fairly typical annoying post-operative pain; not the tear-your-friends-limb-from-limb pain he had been living with, for which he was grateful.

“Carter?” He rasped and then realized no one outside of two inches could have heard that. Because it had to be her who had figured this out, he tried again. “Carter?”

“Sir?” She was there. But she was worried – something bad was about to happen. He was, as always, highly attuned to her vocal cues.   “How do you feel?”

“How’d ya do it?”

“What?”

“Carter. I’m free from the… things. How’d ya do it?”

“Sir?”

“Seriously, Carter?” He realized rather suddenly she had no reason to believe him. “What were you planning to do if it didn’t work?” He asked tentatively.

When she didn’t immediately respond, it sank in to both of them that he truly had no way to convince them. This was what Carter had felt with Jolinar… He asked again, “What will you do?”

Not only did she not answer him, she wouldn’t even meet his eyes. She turned away and nodded at Kell. But at the same time she took his hand and held it tightly.

Kell hit the button labeled ‘send.’

After a moment, he nodded at Sam to confirm the signal had been sent.

Jack looked around at the members of his team. Teal’c was frozen, his jaw working. Daniel, hugging himself, wouldn’t meet his eyes. He looked into Sam’s and he had to smile. She looked so sad.

“It’s what you had to do.”

She looked down.

He wouldn’t let her, “Wasn’t it?” It wasn’t a question.

She met his eyes firmly now and nodded.

“Then it’s alright.” He spoke lightly, almost cheerfully, “Daniel? Teal’c? It’s cool. Whatever happens.”

“Nothing happened.” Kell spoke from the computer, his voice tremulous.

Carter’s head whipped around to look at him questioningly.

“It should have happened by now. If something were going to happen. It would have happened.” He was disbelieving, but excited. “It’s over.”

oO0Oo

At that moment, time froze. All five people slowly exhaled. Four pairs of eyes gradually turned to Jack. The good news seeped in gently, like syrup into a pancake. Sam felt it – it tingled, and brought tears to her eyes.

Jack smiled a more genuine smile now, “Told ya.”

“YES!” Daniel cried and punched Teal’c in the shoulder.

Teal’c raised an eyebrow, but moved to the side of the bed opposite Sam, “I am most pleased that I will continue to fight at your side, my brother.”

Jack held his forearm, “Sure beats fighting against you… Brother.”

Sam merely smiled at him while tears streamed unashamedly down her cheeks.

He turned to her. “Hey.” He protested softly and gently brushed away the tears. He thought about saying more, but it seemed to be enough.

After a long pause he cleared his throat, “Kell?”

Kell moved into his line of vision.

Jack tilted his head to better face him, “Welcome to Earth. Consider yourself at home. And thank-you.” 

END

 

 

Wow! That one just refused to end. Still seems rather abrupt. Just imagine the camera angle pulling slowly up and away from the tableau – and… Roll Credits! 

There. That’s how it ends. 

Thanks again for reading, and if you have the time, please review. Every writer I know positively loves it! I’m drooling at the thought…

 


End file.
